What a 13-Year-Old Internet Guru Can Teach Us About Cyberbullying

13-year-old Daniel Singer has a stronger grasp on cyberbullying than most of us do—as well as on what we can do about it.

Facebook’sMark Zuckerberg was 20 when he launched his social networking site. Daniel Singer, creator of the new site YouTell, is 13.

Zuckerberg’s influence has created new opportunities for a generation raised on the Internet. (To wit, Daniel pitched YouTell to a San Francisco start-up veteran from his L.A. bedroom.) On the flip side, those opportunities for self-expression can lead to dangerous, sometimes tragic outcomes.

For example, Daniel knew that bullies like an audience, so he developed a setting that keeps all feedback private—people can answer, but they can’t see others’ answers, and this discourages ganging-up. This was something he had to fight for while the rest of his team wavered, according to his dad. At the same time, he crafted the site to feed the need for feedback, something that has enraptured young web users since earlier Q&A sites like FormSpring became popular.

In fairness, Daniel isn’t like most eighth graders. He’s got a LinkedIn page most college graduates would envy. He quotes the tech blog Gizmodo, attends programming conventions and describes his site as ideal for “busy single moms” as well as kids. Daniel understands things I didn’t as a 13-year-old, in part because he’s smarter than I was, but also because he’s been raised with the world’s most comprehensive encyclopedia, the Internet.

The day after YouTell launched last week, Daniel spent his free period between classes on the phone with Yahoo! Shine. I asked him what he thinks are the biggest threats kids face online and whether adults are doing enough to keep kids safe.